


A Midsummer Night's Dream

by neko-nya (neko_fish)



Series: Yellow [8]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, M/M, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-20
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-25 13:58:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7535497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neko_fish/pseuds/neko-nya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The biggest what if.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Midsummer Night's Dream

The little strip tied to the ventilation filter is blowing but all he can feel is heat, heat, and more heat. With his head resting on his desk, there’s sweat trickling down his face and he can’t tell if his vision is blurring or if the heat is creating a mirage inside the office. The room could be on fire and he probably wouldn't feel a difference in temperature. If it's this hot inside with air conditioning, people’s shoes must be melting to the pavement outside.

“Taiga!”

He snaps to attention only to see Alex looking down at him, suddenly blocking his view of the air conditioner. “You're in my breeze,” he complains.

“I'm preparing you for the weather outside,” Alex tells him without a hint of remorse. “I've got an assignment for you. It's nothing big but it does require you to go out.”

It's only his dedication to his job that makes him reluctantly agree to it. “What is it?”

“Well, you were talking about wanting to see how things worked at a local level, since you came straight into this position from America, so I went and arranged something for you,” she explains.

It’s true and he doesn't want to complain but the words come out anyway. “Did it really have to be today though?”

Alex shrugs. “In a way. Today certainly sped the process up.”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“One of the police boxes in the area is short a person.”

“Don't tell me—”

“Heatstroke.”

Kagami scoffs. “What not a surprise. Are criminals even working today? If I were them, I'd start later today after half the policemen in the area have been sent home from the heat.”

“Ah, yes, it's progressive thinking like that that caught my eye about you,” Alex replies, her voice thick with sarcasm. “So will you go or not? I know it's not the best conditions but it's better than nothing. One of the guys from the 4th division is already there helping out.”

“I know, and I'm grateful for the opportunity, Alex,” he says. “I just wish it wasn't so ridiculously hot.”

“Constantly thinking about it won't make it go away, Taiga.”

Suddenly, there's a soft clicking noise from the air conditioner, and the ribbon tied to the vents droops to a stop. One of the officers start fiddling with the remote, trying their best to revive the machine but to no avail.

Taking it as a sign, Kagami pushes himself up with a sigh. “I guess I'll go now. With any luck, there might be a slight breeze outside. Where am I going again?”

Alex hands him a slip of paper with an address and leaves to join the group forming by the malfunctioning air conditioner.

He decides to leave immediately, before the stifling heat in the office grows too unbearable. Making his way to the underground parking, he silently praises his luck at managing to find a spot today. The door unlocks with a click and he holds it open for a few seconds for the coped up heat to escape. Reaching in, he turns on the engine and the air conditioning. It’s only when cold air starts coming through the ducts that he steps in and closes the door.

The streets are emptier than usual with most people smart enough to stay indoors. Driving slowly through the streets at the instruction of his GPS, he leans forward a little, trying to catch as much of the breeze as possible before arriving at his destination.

Even when he pulls up to the police box, he can’t resist sitting for another five seconds before taking a deep breath and opening the door, ready to brave the heat. The humidity immediately hits him and he can feel sweat forming on his forehead as he walks over to the door and pokes his head in.

Inside, there’s a man leaning back in his chair, fanning himself even as he sits directly in front of the fan. There’s a soft buzz and the man sluggishly raises his phone up to check his messages. His shoulders shake lightly as he chuckles and types back a reply.

“Hello?” Kagami calls out, making his presence known.

The man glances up and doesn’t move from his seat. “Oh, you must be the other guy they sent from HQ, huh? What’d you do to get on the bad side of your boss?”

“What? Nothing,” he says. “I volunteered for this—in a way. I’m Kagami Taiga from the 1st division.”

“Aomine Daiki, 4th division. We drew straws and I lost,” the other returns, making no move to shake hands. “Why would _anyone_ volunteer to come out here on the hottest day of the year? You don’t _look_ like that big an idiot.”

Kagami doesn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult. “I wanted to see what kind of work was being at the local level. I figured it’d help me understand my cases better.”

With a shrug, Aomine makes a sweeping gesture of his office. “Nothing as exciting as homicide, I’m sure. We’ve had to help a lot of people suffering from heat exhaustion and heatstroke today. From what I remember from my time in a koban, usually, you get the lost tourist, lost kids, lost goods, and the occasional petty thief—not right now though, they’d have to be crazy to go out in this heat. You can take a seat and make yourself comfortable, by the way. It's going to be a long day.”

He pulls up a chair and plops himself down, feeling his clothes stick to his skin rather uncomfortably. Looking around, he doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary except for a basketball tucked away in the corner under the desk. “You play basketball?”

Aomine glances over and nods. “Mostly just street basketball nowadays, but I’m still pretty damn good if I say so myself. What about you? You play?”

“Yeah, I played throughout high school. I even thought about going pro at one point,” he says.

“Oh, you sound kinda like you’re in the same boat as me then,” Aomine says. “Ever heard of the Generation of Miracles?”

Kagami perks up, recognizing the name. Then his brain puts two and two together, and he blurts out, “Wait, you can’t be _that_ Aomine!?”

With a chuckle, the other turns his chair around to face him. It’s only then that he notices the golden stud earring in one of the man’s lobes. “The one and only. That was a long while ago though.”

“I always thought you’d be the one to go pro,” Kagami admits.

“Yeah, well, I found a world outside of basketball, I guess,” Aomine says with a shrug. “We should play a game after this, when the sun’s gone down a bit and the pavement won’t melt the ball.”

He nods eagerly. “Bring it on!”

Just then, there’s a knock on the door and a woman appears. “Excuse me, officer? A granny outside’s fainted from the heat, please come help!”

“Show me.” Almost immediately, Aomine’s on his feet and stepping outside with the woman. He blinks and quickly follows them out to the streets, taken aback at the professional demeanor the other suddenly adopted.

\--

Towards the end of their shift, they’ve assisted multiple people who fainted, one lost child, and two lost items. The sun’s finally beginning the set and the temperature’s dropped a few degrees, although not nearly enough for him to consider it ‘comfortable’ and _not_ ‘stupid hot’.

“Why are there still so many people outside on such a hot day when the sun’s still up? Are they all stupid?” Aomine complains loudly, sitting backwards in his chair and turned away from the door to get his face as close to the fan as possible.

Kagami’s about to reply when he notices something out of the corner of his eye by the door. He turns his head to see a stylishly dressed blond man in shades smile at him. The stranger holds a finger up to his lips and holds up an ice cream bar with the other. Curiously, he watches as the man sneaks over towards Aomine and presses the frozen snack against the man’s neck, eliciting an undignified yelp.

Aomine whirls around, his eyes wide with surprise. “Kise!? When’d you get back?”

“How mean, I texted you earlier, didn’t I?” the man says with a pout.

“I thought you sent that from who knows which airport,” Aomine replies, his eyes honing in on the plastic bag in the other’s hand. “Did you come here straight from work?”

Kise grins and empties the bag onto the desk. “I actually took a nap when I got home, but then I woke up and thought you’d be feeling the heat today, so I decided to drop by with snacks. Aren’t I thoughtful?” He looks over at Kagami and introduces himself, “Hi, I’m Kise Ryouta, by the way.”

“Kagami Taiga,” he returns.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kagami-san,” the blond says with a sunny smile. “As a thank you for taking care of Aominecchi today, please help yourself to some ice cream!”

Scanning over the various frozen treats, he grabs his favourite and repeats the man’s name to himself a couple of times. “Kise Ryouta…I swear I’ve heard that name before… Oh! You were in the Generation of Miracles too, weren’t you? You’re the one in all the magazine centerfolds, right?”

“That’s right! I was also Aominecchi’s top rival!” Kise proclaims happily.

In return, Aomine scoffs teasingly, “Is that what you call it? I’d hardly consider you a rival. Maybe something more like a team mascot?”

“What? You’re the absolute worst!” Kise whines, eyes watering. From the sideline, Kagami can’t help but notice what a nice crying face that was. “I’ll show you who’s boss! Let’s play some one-on-one when you get off today!”

Laughing, Aomine shrugs. “Bring it. You’ve been saying this for over ten years now and you’re _still_ a thousand years too early to even think about beating me.” Then he glances over at Kagami and grins. “Actually, I have a better idea. I promised this guy here a match earlier. Why don’t we grab Tetsu and make it two-on-two?”

Kise immediately brightens up. “I call dibs on playing with Kurokocchi!”

“No way,” Aomine protests, “that’s hardly fair.”

“But I brought you ice cream!”

“I bet you bought it with _my_ money!”

Kise huffs and tucks a few loose strands of hair behind his ear, revealing a small, blue hoop earring. “Yeah, well, I didn’t have any smaller bills handy and I know you always forget things in your pockets. It's fine, isn't it? I’ll probably end up paying for dinner tonight anyway.”

“You _are_ the pilot and occasional model,” Aomine points out with a chuckle. “I’m just a lowly policeman.”

“Lowly? What are you talking about, Aominecchi? You’re on TV even more than me nowadays with all your press conferences and interviews. Catching thieves makes you pretty amazing in my books.”

Arching a brow, Aomine asks, “Oh? Even more amazing than if I’d gone pro?”

“I think you’d be equally cool no matter what you do, so long as you do it seriously,” Kise says. “You do make a particularly dashing officer though. It’s been a while since you’ve had to work in a koban. Remember when I used to visit you?”

“Yeah, and you always brought a crowd with you. It was pretty annoying, actually.”

Kise pouts. “It wasn’t my fault. They just followed me. I remember that one time you chased down a robber though. I don’t think you’ve ever looked cooler.”

A smirk. “Oh? Is that right?”

From the side, feeling very much like a third wheel, Kagami watches the two flirt uncomfortably, unsure of how to react or if he should interject somewhere. If the two get any closer, Kise will end up in Aomine’s lap. Finally deciding that he'd seen enough, he clears his throat and asks, “Who’s Kuroko?”

He can practically see a tail wagging behind Kise as he perks up. “Kurokocchi is the best! You’ll love him! He was one of us, you know? Kuroko Tetsuya? He played for Seirin in high school.”

Kagami furrows his brows and looks up in thought. “It doesn’t ring a bell.”

Aomine shrugs. “Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough. He’s the low-key type anyway.”

“Hey, look, I think your reliefs are here,” Kise says, scooting back to the other side of the desk. He puts his sunglasses back on and smiles. “I’ll go give Kurokocchi a call!”

Rolling his eyes affectionately, Aomine nods. “Yeah, yeah, you go do that, and don’t you go disappearing anywhere, you hear me?”

“I won’t!” He glances back and tilts his sunglasses down. “Make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble, alright, Kagami-san? I’m entrusting him to you.” Then he turns back to Aomine and blows him a kiss on his way out the door. “I’ll be right outside, Aominecchi!”

“Honestly, he’s just like a dog sometimes,” the other mutters with a soft smile. Suddenly, Kagami’s vision blurs a little and the sounds around him start muffling. “Hey, Kag…mi, you rea…or…sketb…?”

He blinks. “Sorry, what?”

“…Kaga…i…”

“…K..am…i…”

\--

“ _Kagami-kun_?”

His eyes snap open and the images fade away as he finds himself staring at a familiar face lying next to him. “Wha? Kuroko?” he breathes, his voice raspy with sleep. He immediately glances around, finding himself in his room with the sun streaming through the windows and the air conditioning running quietly in the background.

“Are you alright? It seemed like you were dreaming really vividly about something,” Kuroko says, concern colouring his voice.

“I’m fine, I was just…” His mind grasps desperately for the last remnants of the dream, but it slips away, leaving him behind with nothing except emotions to remember it by. “I was just dreaming.”

Even as the words leave his mouth, he feels a heavy emptiness in his chest.

“Was it a bad dream?” Kuroko asks.

Pulling the other into a loose hug, Kagami shakes his head and says, “No, in my dream, everything was bright and dazzling, and there was someone there; it felt like I was meeting an old friend for the first time.”

Kuroko tucks his head against his chest and snuggles a little closer. “That sounds like a nice dream.”

A little sadly, he smiles. “Yeah, it was a very warm dream.”

**Author's Note:**

> Three-year anniversary! I can hardly believe it and feel so incredibly old now that I've said that. I had quite a few people ask me for happy add-ons, so I got inspired but I feel like it ended up even more depressing? There were a few prompts for another thing so I might get around to writing that? I guess we'll see. Enjoy!


End file.
